Court ruling clears La Grange Park District to sell land

September 10, 2013|By Wes Venteicher, Chicago Tribune reporter

An Illinois appellate court has determined that the Park District of La Grange may sell a portion of a local park.

The ruling in the Illinois Appellate Court First Judicial District upheld a lower court's ruling that the park district has the authority to sell a 2.82-acre parcel in the northwest section of Gordon Park, according to court documents. The 17-acre park is located at the corner of La Grange Road and Ogden Avenue.

"It's one less obstacle for the district to handle, if there is a possible sale," Park District Executive Director Dean Bissias said Tuesday.

The district has no standing offer, Bissias said. A plan to sell the piece of land — a sloped area that includes a maintenance shed, some grass and trees — was approved by voters in 2008 and then challenged in a 2009 lawsuit filed by local group La Grange Friends of the Parks, the documents state. A circuit court judge's decision in favor of the sale was then appealed by the group, according to the documents.

The park district had determined the land had little use, according to the documents.

But Cheryl Ciecko, a former La Grange Park District trustee who opposes the sale, said all park land is invaluable.

"I think the mission of the park district is supposed to be to preserve park land," Ciecko said. "It's for generations to come — not so you can put in a splash park or a butterfly garden."

A splash park and a butterfly garden are being installed in Gordon Park as part of a larger summer renovation project in the eastern part of the park that was based on community input.

"Park land is really important — and they're not making any more of it," Ciecko said. "Once it's gone, it's gone forever."

The park district argued that the money from a sale could benefit the public more than the land. A developer had made an offer of about $3 million for the 2.82 acres, according to court documents. That offer also involved an adjacent YMCA-owned lot, Bissias said.

The Friends of the Parks argued the district lacked the authority to sell the land, according to the documents. The group also argued that the land was more valuable for its use than for its selling price, for activities such as jogging.

The appellate court rejected those arguments, siding with a Cook County circuit court decision. "From all the testimony it appears that this parcel of property is generally useful only for passive or for casual pick-up type activities," the circuit court determined. "Indeed, it appears appropriate for very minimal usage and is totally lacking in utility or safety for many, many park district activities."

Representatives of the group that filed the suit could not immediately be reached for comment on whether they plan to continue their fight.

Bissias said he does not know if the developer that had expressed interest — Georgia-based Atlantic Realty Partners — is still interested in the property. But he estimated he has received more than a dozen inquiries about the acreage since the lawsuit was filed.

The YMCA of Metro Chicago recently announced it was accepting development proposals for the former Rich Port YMCA facility, a 4.3-acre parcel just north of the park district's 2.82 acres.